It’s Friday night, Pizza is on the menu, but how do you keep it healthy? Adding the right pizza toppings can significantly keep the calorie count down and can also make your pizza a lot healthier. Whether you’re making your own pizza using our Protein Pizza Base, or eating pizza out at a restaurant, we have created a list of low carb and high protein toppings to help you get the most out of your pizza.

Before you start adding toppings, you’re also probably wondering about the most important part of a pizza… THE CHEESE. Here are some of our favourite high protein choices:

Parmesan: Not necessarily the cheese to create the best melt on top of your pizza, however it does have one of the highest protein contents of all cheeses, with 36g of protein per 100g.

Cheddar: Still reasonably high in protein at 24g / 100g, opt for a classic cheddar to still achieve a good melt.

Mozzarella: Similar to cheddar, mozzarella is the perfect cheese for pizza and its still relatively high in protein at around 24g / 100g too.

Ricotta: Lower in protein at 11g of / 100g, Ricotta can be a great alternative option as it also contains a lower carb content.

Once you have selected your cheese, it’s on to the pizza toppings…

Good Quality Sliced Ham / Chicken or Turkey Breast

Adding meat to your pizza can give it an extra protein boost. Opt for good quality chopped meat or try purchasing from the deli counter. Also ensure that you opt for a variety that has a low sodium content as this will increase the nutritional value of the meat. Often meats will have had chemicals added to them in order to preserve them which is why low sodium is preferred.

Crab Meat

Crab meat may not seem like an obvious choice but is low in fat and an 85g serving can provide over 16g protein! If you don’t fancy crab meat, you could alternatively opt for tinned tuna. Try one of the flavour varieties such as the Chilli for more flavour.

Prawns

High in protein with virtually no carbs, prawns are an obvious choice for pizza. Try marinading in garlic, chilli and lemon for a simple flavour burst.

Egg

Cracking and cooking an egg in the middle of your pizza provides your pizza with a dose of healthy fats and vitamins. If you can cook the egg to perfection, you’ll also have some yolk to dip your crusts into!

Pineapple

Guaranteed to help with your sweet cravings, pineapple is a favourite on top of pizzas. It is also lower on the carbs than most fruits (see the full list here) and also helps to keep bloating at bay. Teamed with good quality sliced ham, you have the ultimate Hawaiian protein pizza.

High Protein Basil Pesto

Pesto can be a great alternative to a tomato based pizza, or you can add dollops of it on top of your tomato base. Try creating this easy high protein and oil free healthy basil pesto recipe which is low in carbs. Tip: If you make a large batch, it’s great to spread on your Protein Bread during mid week.

Vegetables

This may seem like an obvious one but you can seriously increase your veg intake by adding some high protein low carb veggies on your pizza. My choice would be broccoli – it’s number 4 on the low carb vegetable list (check out The 50 Lowest Carb Vegetables list here) and is said to be the number one vegetable packing in the most nutritious value of any veg.